Helen - Interview 04

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Helen was interviewed for Healthtalk in 2010
Doctors gave Helen excellent spoken and written information about what to expect during treatment...
Doctors gave Helen excellent spoken and written information about what to expect during treatment...
By searching the internet Helen found a woman who had had a Whipples operation; she told her...
By searching the internet Helen found a woman who had had a Whipples operation; she told her...
Helen had a stent inserted to relieve jaundice and had a biopsy at the same time. Afterwards she...
Helen had a stent inserted to relieve jaundice and had a biopsy at the same time. Afterwards she...
Helen described her time in the intensive care unit after a Whipples operation. She had a...
Helen described her time in the intensive care unit after a Whipples operation. She had a...
Sometime after surgery Helen started having diarrhoea and wind. The doctor told her to take Creon...
Sometime after surgery Helen started having diarrhoea and wind. The doctor told her to take Creon...
After surgery Helen took part in a randomised controlled trial called the ESPAC trial. The...
After surgery Helen took part in a randomised controlled trial called the ESPAC trial. The...
After Helens cancer spread to her liver she started on the TeloVac trial. She was randomised to...
After Helens cancer spread to her liver she started on the TeloVac trial. She was randomised to...
Helen had felt back to normal, but almost a year after her treatment finished she felt...
Helen had felt back to normal, but almost a year after her treatment finished she felt...
Helen could have claimed Disability Living Allowance but she was not allowed to claim...

Helen could have claimed Disability Living Allowance but she was not allowed to claim...
After Helens operation the physiotherapists helped her to get up and walk, and gave her...
After Helens operation the physiotherapists helped her to get up and walk, and gave her...
And then the physio come to see you and they start walking you and giving you exercises to do, which you can do while you’re in bed, to start strengthening up your pelvic muscles again. And your abdomen, it’s still very, very numb, and it is difficult. But it did help. And, and they were great. They were very understanding. But it took two physios to walk me, one either side, and I was very unsteady on my feet. And there was one occasion when I thought, I really thought I was going to fall and then they had to keep tight hold of me. But it did get easier, and day by day you could feel the difference.
Helen had several CT scans. It felt strange when the radiographer injected dye into her arm.
Helen had several CT scans. It felt strange when the radiographer injected dye into her arm.
I don’t know what else to say about a CT scan really. It’s, from a patient’s perspective it’s just, it’s just the dye that they inject you with, which helps all your insides to stand out clearly on the scan. That’s not a problem. You don’t really feel it, apart from it can give you a sensation of warmth flooding your body. And it can also make you feel as though you’re passing urine. It’s, it’s a very strange feeling. But it’s fine. It doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t affect you. You don’t feel it afterwards. It’s literally a few seconds of warmth and then it’s gone. And it’s just like a big doughnut, the CT scanner, that you pass through on a table. It’s, you know, it’s not frightening. Well, I don’t think it’s frightening. Very simple.